It also has double the range, allowing it to forego forward in-air refueling points to simplify design and logistics. company, announced today GE Aviation’s T64-GE-419 engine will power the Bell V-280 Valor demonstrator aircraft.
Through the use of composites in honeycomb sandwich configurations with large-cell carbon cores in the fuselage, wing, and tail section, the Valor boasts a 30 percent weight savings over that aircraft despite its armor.Īccording to Bell, the Valor with its crew of two and payload of 14 troops, or the equivalent weight, can fly at twice the speed of current medium-lift helicopters. Both companies agree that the Bell V-280 Valor, which has wings, is more fuel-efficient in long-range flight than the Sikorsky-Boeing SB>1 Defiant, which just has rotors. Bell Helicopter, OctoFORT WORTH, TEXAS Bell Helicopter, a Textron Inc. Army’s Future Long-Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) Program. The flight took place at the company's Flight Research Center in Arlington, Texas after the completion of over 85 flight hours and 180 rotor-turn hours during a year of testing.ĭeveloped in partnership with Lockheed Martin, GE Aviation, Moog, IAI, TRU Simulation & Training, Astronics, Eaton, GKN Aerospace, Lord, Meggitt, and Spirit AeroSystems, the Valor is intended to be a lighter, simpler, and less expensive advance on the V-22 Osprey. Rolls-Royce, JRolls-Royce has reached agreement with Bell Textron Inc, a Textron Inc company, to provide the propulsion system for the V-280 Valor aircraft as it moves forward in the competition for the U.S. Bell's V-280 Valor tiltrotor combat aircraft lived up to its name on Wednesday as it pegged the speedometer at a true airspeed of 280 knots (322 mph, 518 km/h), or twice that of conventional rotorcraft.